GENERAL​

ECDA is an autonomous agency established to oversee children’s holistic development
below the age of 7, in both kindergartens and child care centres.

Q2.

Why did the government decide to establish ECDA?

ECDA will integrate the Government’s efforts towards raising the quality, accessibility,
and affordability of early childhood care and edu​cation in Singapore. It will provide
a “one-stop shop” for parents, operators, and early childhood professionals.

Q3.

Who will oversee ECDA?

ECDA will be jointly overseen by MOE and MSF. Joint oversight will enable ECDA to
promote children’s holistic development, nurture positive attitudes towards learning,
prepare children for the transition to formal education, and help to support and
strengthen Singaporean families.

Q4.

When will ECDA start operations?

ECDA will start its operations from 1st April 2013.

Q5.

What will ECDA do?

ECDA will integrate the current roles of MOE’s Pre-school Education Branch and MSF’s
Child Care Division.

Its main functions will be to:

Oversee measures to raise quality, including regulation, quality assurance certification,
and provision of early childhood development resources;

Facilitate the training and professional development of early childhood professionals;

Master-plan infrastructure and manpower resources for the early childhood sector;

Provide subsidies and grants to keep early childhood programmes affordable, especially
for low and middle income families;

Conduct public education and outreach to raise parents’ awareness and support for
their children’s early development.

PARENTS

Q1.

How will ECDA benefit me as a parent?

ECDA will serve as a “one-stop shop” for all matters regarding centre-based early
childhood care and education. This is more convenient for parents, who will now
get in touch with ECDA, for Kindergarten and Child Care matters rather than MOE
and MSF separately as is the case today.

ECDA will oversee and drive quality improvements in both kindergartens and child
care centres, perform master planning to ensure sufficient pre-school places for
children, as well review regularly the affordability of pre-school programmes for
families.

Q2.

What is child care/kindergarten? What kind of services do they offer? How do I find
a child care or kindergarten?

Kindergartens

Kindergartens provide a 3-year pre-school developmental programme for children from
4 to 6 years of age. The 3-year programme consists of Nursery, Kindergarten 1 and
Kindergarten 2. Most kindergartens run two sessions a day, with each session ranging
from 3 to 4 hours, 5 days a week. They are currently registered under MOE and will
come under the oversight of ECDA from 1st April 2013.

Child care centres provide child care services for children aged 18 months and 6
years old. Several centres also provide infant care programmes for infants aged
between 2 to 18 months old. Centres may offer full-day, half-day and flexible programmes
to cater to the diverse needs and work schedules of parents. Child care centres
are currently licensed by MSF and will come under the oversight of ECDA from 1st
April 2013.

KiFAS: Families whose children are enrolled in eligible kindergartens, earning a
gross household income of $3,500 or less each month, or with a monthly household
per capita income of $875 will qualify for the kindergarten financial assistance
scheme.

For Child Care centres, the current Basic Subsidy remains as it is today, but there
will be an Additional Subsidy component from 1st April 2013 for working mothers
whose household income is less than $7,500.

Basic Subsidy: Working mothers will qualify for a Basic Subsidy of up to
$600 for infant care and $300 for child care. Non working mothers will receive $150
for both child care and infant care.

Additional Subsidy: Lower and middle income families with a gross household
income of $7,500 and below, or larger families with a per Capita Income (PCI) of
$1,875 and below, will benefit from an Additional Subsidy of at least $200 for infant
care and $100 for child care, with lower income households receiving more.

Is kindergarten or child care better for my child? How do I select a good quality
child care centre or kindergarten for my child?

Both kindergartens and child care centres offer a wide variety of programmes. Parents
are advised to identify centres that best suit the needs of their children. Working
mothers with no alternative care arrangements may require full-day care for both
the care and development aspects for their child. Others with their own care arrangements
may find half-day programmes in child care or kindergarten more suitable for their
child’s developmental needs.

The Government has also introduced the Singapore Pre-School Accreditation Framework
(SPARK), a quality assurance framework for both kindergartens and child care centres.
SPARK certification is an endorsement of the quality of the pre-school and its programmes.
You may look for a list of SPARK-certified centres at both the
Child Care Link and Preschools Connect
websites.

You may also wish to refer to our online resources and Guide for Parents for more
info:

Where can I find more information on supporting my child’s development at home?

The Public Education & Outreach branch of ECDA aims to raise awareness on the
issues and importance of providing quality care and development for young children.

This will be achieved through creative partnerships with various stakeholders such
as the media, non-profit organizations, kindergartens and child care centres, community
groups, and others, to create and disseminate educational materials on early childhood
development.

Parents can look forward to more information on early childhood care and development
through ECDA’s publications and events (such as seminars and workshops).

OPERATORS

Q1.

How will ECDA benefit me as an operator?

ECDA will serve as a “one-stop shop” for all matters regarding centre-based early
childhood care and education. This is more convenient for operators, who can now
get in touch with ECDA for kindergarten and child care matters, rather than MOE
and MSF separately as is the case today.

ECDA will continue to support all operators through providing training support and
curriculum resources.

Q2.

How do I go about setting-up a kindergarten or child care centre?

Kindergartens are regulated under the Education Act. You may find out more
about setting up a kindergarten at http://preschool.edu.sg

Child care centres are licensed under the Child Care Act. You may find out
more about setting up a child care centre at
www.childcarelink.gov.sg

The current SPARK Secretariat will continue to accept applications for SPARK assessment
from 1 Apr 2013 onwards. Their email address will be changed to
SPARK@ecda.gov.sg

Q4.

I am an early childhood training provider. Where do I go to get my new training
courses accredited?

The Teacher Quality Branch of ECDA will oversee the accreditation of early childhood
training courses. For more information, you can write in to
PQAC_Admin@ecda.gov.sg

Q5.

What will happen to the current Innovation Grant / Early Childhood Research Fund?

The Innovation and Research Branch of ECDA will promote innovation and excellence
in the early childhood sector, so that standards of teaching and learning will continue
to improve. It will support early childhood educators to carry out classroom-based
research through the Innovation Grant and the Early Childhood Research Fund. More
information can be found at cdn.gov.sg or
preschool.edu.sg.

Q6.

Where can I find more information on the Anchor Operator scheme?

The Sector Funding Branch of ECDA will oversee the implementation and review of
various support schemes for pre-school operators, including the Anchor Operator
scheme.

More details on the enhanced Anchor Operator scheme will be released in the second
quarter of 2013.

Q7.

What areas of policy will ECDA harmonise and integrate across the kindergarten and
child care sectors?

ECDA will work towards integrating and strengthening the regulatory environment
and support for the early childhood sector as a whole. ECDA will consult with the
relevant stakeholders as it conducts this review.

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS (ECE) / TRAINING PROVIDERS

Q1.

How will ECDA benefit me as an ECE?

ECDA will serve as a “one-stop shop” for educators to interface with government
on matters regarding their profession. These include qualification and training
requirements, applications for registration and certification, scholarship opportunities,
and training courses.

Q2.

How do I join the sector? What are the training requirements and approved courses
for ECE? Are they the same for kindergartens and child care? How do I get certified?

The qualifications and training requirements for both kindergartens and child care
are already harmonized according to age group. For example, teachers teaching kindergarten-level
children have the same training requirements.

Both MOE and MSF currently work closely with various partners to attract, develop
and retain early childhood professionals. ECDA will continue working with partners
such as WDA and ESU to support the career development of our early childhood personnel.

These sector-wide initiatives include scholarships to attract new entrants and upgrading
opportunities for existing teachers. MSF has also created more career opportunities
through alternative training pathways for educarers for the younger ages.